Hong Kong jails protester for chanting political slogans

A Hong Kong activist has been sentenced to jail for chanting political slogans, in a decision that legal experts warned could lead to more prosecutions and greater restrictions on free speech in the Asian financial hub.

Ma Chun-man, a 31-year-old former food delivery worker, was found guilty of inciting secession last month by a local court for making the chants at a protest in 2020 that were deemed "pro-independence".

Mr Ma was sentenced to five years and nine months on Thursday under the national security law, a sweeping measure imposed by Beijing on the city following pro-democracy protests in 2019. The law has led to at least 155 arrests, including journalists, former lawmakers and students.

Critics said the sentencing created new "red lines" under the law, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Mr Ma had argued during his trial that he was testing the limits of the rule, rather than calling for Hong Kong's independence from China.

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"There is no doubt that Ma's case is about the limits of free speech. Free speech is a relative right, instead of an absolute right," said Lin Feng, associate dean of the City University of Hong Kong's law school. "If Ma's case were to be followed, displaying and chanting secessionist slogans publicly would have [a] high chance of being prosecuted."

Thomas E Kellogg, Georgetown University's executive director of the Centre for Asian Law, said Mr Ma's conviction could lead to authorities taking an "almost zero-tolerance approach" to dissident voices.

“Given that the security law [has] put so many weapons in the hands of the prosecution ... I think defence counsel taking up these cases need to develop new strategies,” he said.

After Mr Ma’s conviction in October, four elderly people were arrested on suspicion of “seditious intention” under the city’s British colonial-era laws for displaying items that police alleged violated the security law.

These included a foldable display that bore the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times”, according to a person familiar with the matter. The phrase was deemed illegal this year in the first national security law case. Other items included a banner that said “I want genuine universal suffrage”.

Growing restrictions on civil freedoms in Hong Kong led Amnesty International, the human rights group, to close its offices after almost 40 years in the city because it was concerned about staff safety.

The first person convicted on national security charges was former waiter Tong Ying-kit. He was jailed for nine years for inciting secession and engaging in terrorism after riding a motorbike into police lines while carrying a flag with the "Liberate Hong Kong" slogan. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2021